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Matthew 18:34
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

Matthew 25:41,46
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: …

Luke 12:59
I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

you will not get out
This part of the verse suggests a situation of confinement or imprisonment. In the cultural and historical context of first-century Judea, debtors' prisons were common. If someone could not pay their debts, they could be imprisoned until the debt was paid. This imagery would have been familiar to Jesus' audience, highlighting the seriousness of unresolved disputes and the consequences of failing to reconcile. It also serves as a metaphor for spiritual accountability and the importance of settling matters before they escalate.

until you have paid
The concept of paying a debt is central to this phrase. In the biblical context, it reflects the idea of justice and restitution. The Law of Moses included provisions for restitution and compensation for wrongs committed (Exodus 22:1-15). This phrase underscores the principle that justice requires full payment or restitution. Spiritually, it points to the necessity of addressing sin and the consequences of failing to do so, aligning with the broader biblical theme of repentance and forgiveness.

the last penny
The "last penny" refers to the smallest Roman coin, known as the "quadrans" or "lepton," which was of very little value. This detail emphasizes the thoroughness and completeness required in settling accounts. In a spiritual sense, it suggests that every sin, no matter how small, must be accounted for. This aligns with the teachings of Jesus on the importance of righteousness and the need for complete reconciliation with God and others. It also foreshadows the ultimate payment for sin made by Jesus Christ on the cross, where He paid the full price for humanity's sins, fulfilling the demands of divine justice.

– Jesus prefaces His words with the familiar “Amen,” signaling absolute certainty.

• The statement carries the full authority of the One who is “the Way and the Truth” (John 14:6).

• Whenever Jesus uses this preface, He underlines an unalterable reality, much like His assurance inMatthew 24:35 that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”

• The verse sits within the larger Sermon on the Mount call to a righteousness surpassing that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).

– The image is of confinement, echoingLuke 12:58-59, where an adversary drags a debtor to the judge.

• The “prison” pictures the inescapable justice of God (Hebrews 10:30-31).

• Human strength, status, or pleading cannot unlock the door (Matthew 18:34).

• It highlights personal accountability: each must “give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

– Payment language frames sin as a debt owed to divine holiness.

• Jesus consistently used debts to illustrate moral obligation (Matthew 6:12; 18:23-35).

• God’s justice requires full satisfaction; there is no partial settlement (Galatians 6:7).

• The statement exposes the futility of self-righteousness. Left to ourselves, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

– The “quadrans,” the smallest Roman coin, stresses total payment down to the tiniest fraction.

• Absolute holiness demands that even “every careless word” be addressed (Matthew 12:36).

• Since fallen humanity cannot meet the charge, the spotlight turns to Christ’s redemptive work:

‑ At the cross He “canceled the record of debt” (Colossians 2:14).

‑ His cry, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), signals that the last penny has been paid on behalf of all who believe.

• Those outside Christ remain liable for the full amount (Revelation 20:12-15).

Matthew 5:26 teaches that God’s justice is perfect, personal, and unavoidable. Jesus affirms that no one leaves divine judgment until every sin-debt is settled in full. On our own the sum is impossible, yet His finished work offers complete payment, liberating all who trust Him from the prison of guilt and wrath.

Do the words point to a terminable or to an endless punishment? In the frame-work of the similitude such a sentence would not involve perpetual imprisonment, if only the condemned could get together the money wherewith to pay his debt or fine; and we might infer, as Romanist divines have inferred, that such a payment, to be followed by liberation, was possible in the divine judgment. But in practice, unless the man had friends or property, the sentence would, for the most part, involve a life-long punishment. And the question may well be asked, when we turn to the realities shadowed forth in the parable, Can a man pay the "uttermost farthing" in that unseen world? Does he pay by enduring for a given time a given measure of suffering, bodily or spiritual? Can he there find others to pay it for him? Do not the words "tillthou hast paid" exclude the thought of their intervention as availing to stay the full action of the great law of retribution? These questions must, for the most part, be so answered as to diminish the force of the first hasty inference. If hope is not shut out altogether, it is because we cannot absolutely answer the first question in the negative. Theremay be a suffering that works repentance, and the repentance may lead to peace and pardon--theremay be, but that is the very utmost that can be said. It is noticeable that the word "prison" is that used in1Peter 3:19, wherethe "spirits in prison" are, almost beyond a doubt, represented as the objects of a dispensation that proclaimed even there the good news of salvation. But the whole tone of the passage is that of one who seeks to deepen the sense of danger, not to make light of it, to make men feel that they cannot pay their debt, though God may forgive it freely, accepting faith in Him in lieu of payment.

(1) that if payment can be made, release follows;

(2) and that payment can be made.

The first statement is probable; but as for the slightest hint of the second, it is wholly wanting. Christ affirms that non-reconciliation with a brother, if carried beyond that limit of time within which the quarrel can be made up, involves consequences in which the element of mercy will be entirely absent. The element of mercy can enter up to a certain point of time, but after that only justice. (On "pay,"ἀποδῷς, seeMatthew 6:4, note.) It will be observed that, in the above interpretation,ἀντίδικος has been consistently explained as a human adversary, for this seems to be the primary meaning here. But it should not be forgotten that, in the parallel passage in Luke, the reference is to God. Offences against man are there represented in their true character as offences against God, who is therefore depicted as the adversary in a lawsuit. That, from another point of view, be is also the Judge, matters not. Both conceptions of him are true, and can be kept quite distinct. It may be the case, indeed, that this reference ofἀντίδικος to God was present to St. Matthew's mind also when he recorded these words, and this would partly account for the terrible emphasis on ver. 26, thependant to ver. 22. But even if the reference to God were present to St. Matthew's mind by way of application, it is not with him, as it is with St. Luke, the primary. signification of the word.Farthing. Thequadrans, the smallest Roman coin.

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